Sobisch



Dec. 15, 1953 Filed Aug. 17. 1949 J. SOBISCH CASH REGISTER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 15, 1953 J. gOBlSCH 2,662,688

CASH REGISTER Filed Aug. 17, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2

mu-Pu-awooo lnvenl'or Patented Dec. 15, 1953 CASH REGISTER Johannes Sobisch, Bielefeld, Germany, assignor to Anker-Werke, A. G., Bielefeld, Germany, a

corporation of Germany Application August 17, 1949, Serial No. 110,811

Claims priority, application Germany October 1, 1948 3 Claims. (01. 235-2) The invention relates to cash registers with one or several amount-printing places.

It is an' object of the invention to give such cash registers a most compact and simplified design without departing from the experienceproven arrangement of the printing places in the front portion of the machine.

Another, more specific, object of th invention is to simplify the transmission between the register mechanisms and the type carriers of a cash register. Still another specific object is to devise a convenient arrangement of a recording tape without appreciably increasing the space requirements determined by the key board or other amount-setting assembly and the printing devices of the machine.

According to the invention, in one of its aspects, the type carrying members for one or several printing places of a cash register are wholly or partly located beneath the amount-setting assembly and are driven, preferably by connecting links or pitman rods, directly from the difierential mechanism controlled by the assembly. This has th advantage that the mutual spacing of the type carrier members can be kept extremely narrow and that the axial, i. e. normally horizontal, dimensions of the entire group of type carriers and appertaining carrier drive means are small enough to readily permit confining the group substantially within the limits of the cash reg-' ister space underneath the key board or other amount-setting assembly. In conventional machines, a narrow spacing between the type carriers is achieved only by driving th carriers through axially extending shafts, tubes or sleeves which carry respective intermediate spur gears in meshing engagement with drive gears, pinions, racks or the like intermediate transmission elements. Aside from requiring such additional transmission elements, the known machines, as a consequence, must be given considerably wider and deeper overall dimensions.

According to another feature of the invention, the printing place of the registering tape is disposed between the amount-setting assembly and the type carrier members of the cash register. This has the advantage of a convenient and practicable arrangement of the recording tape and the appertaining inspection window While permitting, in conjunction with the first-mentioned features, a very low and compact machine design.

The foregoing and more specific features of the invention will be apparent from the embodiment exemplified by the drawing and described in the following.

' shaft 25.

Figur 1 of the drawing is a lateral view of a cash register according to the invention, the appertaining register housing being shown in section; and Fig. 2 is a front view of the same cash register.

The key board of the illustrated machine has several banks or columns of amount keys I and. control keys 2. The amount keys I serve to set up the amount to be registered. As is well known, the nine amount keys of each bank are mutually interlocked by a cam bar mechanism so that in each bank only one key can be depressed at a time. The key stem of the depressed key projects into the path of a control rack 3 which is normally latched in the illustrated zero position and biased by a spring 3' to move upwardly when unlatched by the actuation of an operation control key, for instance, one of keys 2. The springbiased movement is stopped when the control rack 3 abuts against the projecting portion of the key stem, and the completed travel of the control rack then corresponds to the amount of the on depressed key. Each control rack 3 meshes with the gear sector 4 of a register difierential mechanism which is coupled through a connecting rod 5 to a revolvable type carrier 6. The differential mechanism comprises for each bank of amount keys a gear sector 24 disposed adjacent to the appertaining sector 4. All sectors 4 and 24 are revolvable about the same Sector 4 has a stop 26 that moves counterclockwise into an angular position determined by the depressed amount key. The stop 26 passes through an arcuate slot of gear sector 24. During th machine operation, sector 24 turns clockwise until its movement is terminated by the stop 26. Then a latch 21 moves into engagement with cam teeth of sector 24 to adjust and secure it in the correct position. Sector 24 has gear teeth in meshing engagement with a spur gear 28 for driving an indicator drum [9. The connecting rod 5 is linked at 29 to sector 24 and at 36 to the corresponding type Wheel 6. All type wheels are revolvable on a common shaft 3|. Th type carriers 6 for all banks of keys are arranged coaxially and close to one another. The whole group of type carriers is mounted vertically underneath the key board and the appertaining key-actuated devices, and the appertaining connecting rods extend generally parallel to the vertical planes of rotation of the type carriers, although the rods have laterally bent portions in order to be adapted to the difierent respective locations of the type carrier and gear segment to be interlinked.

The device for accommodating the recording tape 1 of the cash register is arranged between the key board and the type carriers and comprises a supply spool I and a tape-receiving spool 8'. A downwardly movable printing hammer 8 is mounted between the'spools and, when actuated, forces the recording tape 1 toward the type carrier 6 for imprinting the tape. For compactness of design, the arrangement is preferably such that the control racks 3, or some of them, partially enter into the space between the tape spools I and 8' when the racks are in the illustrated lowermost position.

Two printing places are provided in addition.

to the one just described. A pocket 9 in the machine housing permits inserting a, bill or sales slip to be receipted, and a printing hammer 10 serves to force the receipt paper against the type carriers 5 to produce the imprint. A check to be issued by the machine is printed on a check tape II by two printinghammers l2 and I; that operate as a unit. Hammer ll cooperate with the type carriers 6,. while hammer l2. moves against a cliche plate I3 for a fixed imprint, such as. the business name of the establishment. An ink ribbon 14 extends between ribbon spools i4 and. [5 over all three printing places. The check tape II is supplied from a roll IS. A knife 15 is provided for severing the printed checks from the, tape. The amount indicated by drums I9 is visible through windows at and 22, and the amounts printed on the recording tape I I are visible at 23.;

It willbe understoodv by those skilled in the art that the design of cash registers according to the. invention may be, modified in various respectswithout departure from the essential features of the invention as set forthin the claims annexed hereto.

I claim 1. A printing cash register, comprising a key board having banks of keys, said banks being disposed in respective vertical planes, a printing device havingv a plurality of mutually adjacent type carriers coaxially revolvable in respective vertical planes and mounted underneath said key board, said latter planes having a narrow mutual. spacingand said key bank planes having a wide mutual spacing compared with each other, a differential mechanism having a plurality of gearmemberscontrolled by said respective key banks and revolvable in respective vertical planes having said widemutual spacing and connectingrods each having an upper end eccentrically pive oted on one of; said respective gear members and having a lower end eccentrically pivoted on one of said respective carriers for adjusting said carriers, a plurality of said rods havingbent portions soas to extend from one of said respective ear member planes tov one of said respective carrierplanes and said rods being curved between their. respective two pivot points in a direction parallel. to said planes and away from said key board for widening the space between rods and key board, and said printing device having tape feed means and platen means mounted below said key board and above said carriers, and said tape feed means having a tape spool mounted in said widened space,

A pri ting ash, g ster, compr sin an having the other end directly pivoted to one of said respective carriers, said printing device having check-printing means and record printing means, said check printing means having a printing hammer below said carriers and having a tape supply spool horizontally beside said carriers and at the side of said rods away from said mechanism, and said record printing means having a printing hammer above said carriers and having a tape supply spool mounted th Sp intermediate said mechanism, said carriers, said gearsand said rods. 1 3. A printing cash register, comprising a key board having banks of keys, a differential mechanism having a plurality of slidablc control members reciprocable in downward and upward directions under control bysaid respective banks and having revolvable gear members operatively connected with said respective control members to be angularly adjusted by said control members, a printing device having a plurality of flat and disc-shaped type, carriers revolvably unt: ed underneath said key board in coaxial relation to each other, a plurality of rods each having one end pivotally joined directly with one of said respectivecarriers and having the other end pivotally joined directly with one. of said respective gear members, said printing device having a supply spool and a take-up spool horizontally spaced from each other between said key board and said carrier for passing a recording tape between, the bottom points of said respective spools over, the top of said carriers, saidsupply spool being mounted on the side of said control. members facing said rods, said take-up spool being mountedv substantially on the opposite side of said control members, and said control members having a position, in which they project from above into the space between said two spools.

. J HA ES SOB H-.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

